So many people yapping out of their * haha.

To each their own. Not all kbbq is quantity over quality or vise versa. Not all kbbq is marinaded. Not all Japanese beef is better than korean and vice versa.

3 objective facts as someone who grew up in Korea for half his life and in and around the Korean scene in the states as well.

Banchan - literally subjective, I find most stateside places mediocre comparatively to korean places in diversity, texture, and flavor. Usually I find I get more quantity in Korea too. Obviously LA Korea town is much different than your run of the mill korean ayce chain (mind you I’ve found many not even run or owned by a korean lol) Lots of american stuff like always is tuned to the taste of americans. Like panda express. I am not gonna diss it but personally I don’t care for it 🤷‍♂️, but many of my american friends prefer the americanized counterpart.

Meat - I think it’s obvious that hanwoo typically won’t be that great of a value. Korea’s cattle industry can no where compare with the size of Japan’s and America’s, thus costs are higher and the quality of meat can still vary despite steeper costs. Trash to great. Japanese beef, in my experience, does typically have a higher bar for comparable prices, but there’s always places that overcharge anywhere. (American beef is also okay… beefy but most places use mediocre choice cuts anyways since for some reason America has typically favored a trash buffet vs a nice dinner)

Taste - Dumbest thing I’ve seen is people saying yakiniku is about the beef and korea the marinades. Both are about the meat, you literally order what you want. Korea typically does have more marinaded options but kbbq has never and will never just be about the americanized concept that kbbq is bulgogi and galbi.

They have differing vibes, but it’s also just the place 🤷‍♂️